Cochlear implants may provide a person having sensorineural hearing loss with the ability to perceive sound by stimulating the person's auditory nerve via an array of electrodes implanted in the person's cochlea. An external component of the cochlear implant detects sound waves, which are converted into a series of electrical stimulation signals delivered to the implant recipient's auditory nerve via the array of electrodes. Stimulating the auditory nerve in this manner may enable the cochlear implant recipient's brain to perceive a hearing sensation that is similar to the natural hearing sensation delivered to the auditory nerve.
Cochlear implants thus offer cochlear implant recipients an approximation of natural hearing. However, there remain many challenges for cochlear implant recipients associated with using cochlear implants. Among these challenges is using the telephone.
For a cochlear implant recipient, telephone use is difficult for several reasons. First, speech heard over the phone can sound different than speech heard in person, meaning in some cases the cochlear implant recipient may be hearing unfamiliar sounds. Second, many cochlear implant recipients rely on lip-reading and other visual cues from a speaker to bolster their understanding of the hearing sensation provided by the cochlear implant. When using the telephone, however, such visual cues are typically not possible. Finally, the position of the telephone speaker and/or coil in relation to the microphone or telecoil associated with the cochlear implant can have a significant effect on the quality of the sound as perceived by the cochlear implant recipient, and it often takes some experimentation to determine the optimal position for various telephones and environments. Between unfamiliar sounds, a lack of visual cues, and difficulty in positioning, telephone use may become frustrating and undesirable for many cochlear implant recipients.
Some cochlear implant recipients have found that, with practice, they can learn to confidently use the telephone. In many cases, this practice involves the cochlear implant recipient enlisting the help of one or more people, such as relatives, friends, and/or clinicians. The people may speak to the cochlear implant recipient over the telephone or in a mock setting, so as to allow the cochlear implant recipient to practice interpreting speech heard over the telephone. Such practice can be beneficial to the cochlear implant recipient, in particular because the people can interact with and provide feedback to the cochlear implant recipient.
While such practice may be effective, it may also be time consuming for the people enlisted to help the cochlear implant recipient. In some cases, the people may not always be available to aid the cochlear implant recipient in practicing. Further, in some cases, the people may not know how or may not be able to provide speech at a level of clarity and complexity that is appropriate for the cochlear implant recipient. Still further, the cochlear implant recipient may wish to improve his or her confidence before using the telephone with another person.